updated 12:35 pm EDT, Wed May 14, 2008

Dell denies XPS phase-out

Dell has no plans to eliminate its XPS line of computers, a company representative says. On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported that Dell intends to phase out four of its XPS gaming systems, on the basis that they are eating into sales of its newly-bought Alienware division. Dell is said to be in tough financial circumstances, having lost its former dominance in PC sales to chief rival HP. In April the company revealed plans to fire at least 8,800 people, and close its desktop manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.

According to Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden however, the XPS line of systems is not disappearing. Instead the company merely plans to "invest like crazy" in the development of Alienware, and merge its XPS and Alienware teams together. Camden in fact notes that XPS systems will be refreshed in the future, although they have been expanding into non-gaming niches such as all-in-one computers.

uhm

Not that I like dell...

But not too long ago, Apple was in nearly the exact place dell is now. Even if you don't like dell specifically, or the windows platform generally as a business owner, I would fight to keep it profitable. It is what M. Dell does and Dell is his business - has his name on it etc. I say more power to him - competition is a good thing in this case.

OK, they're not phasing out the XPS line, they're just merging it with Alienware.

Translation: They're phasing out the XPS line and putting the resources into developing Alienware.

They may keep a few XPS models around, but they're effectively going to be rebadged Alienware machines in possibly more boring shells. This makes sense. Dell should have done this when it bought Alienware. It also should cut the spin.